I’ve been seeing the use of the phrase “functinally illiterate”, and it got me thinking that I don’t think there is such a thing when it’s speech instead of the written word. There are plenty of instances I can think of where I or someone I knew was simply not capable of or didn’t want to try to understand something that was said. Is there something that means not bring able or refusing to comprehend speech when that person is fluent in the language being spoken?
Inarticulate?
I think this is close, but this would better describe an inability to express themselves with speech. But I’m looking more for the inability or active choice not to comprehend speech.
Actually, I think the most common phrase conveying this is “it’s like talking to a brick wall”. The hardest thing here is including both inability and active choice.